Comedian Jeremy Dooley is bringing 'No Doubt' to Geelong Comedy Festival this month
In the world of comedy, a few names stand out, and one that’s making waves is Jeremy Dooley.
Described as a fast-rising star of Australian comedy, Jeremy’s journey from local gigs to sold-out venues is nothing short of remarkable. Now, he’s all set to take the Geelong Comedy Festival by storm with his show “No Doubt” this October.
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For Jeremy, the path to comedy glory has been an exhilarating rollercoaster ride. “I never expected to get to this point,” he confides, “I’m honestly so thankful that people come out and put their hard-earned money down to have a laugh with me.
“I’m really lucky to get to do what I do, and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
From the four-hour drives to remote gigs to hopping on planes and performing across the country, he’s cherished every moment of his comedy career. It’s the joy of sharing laughter with diverse audiences that keeps him going.
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Etching his name into the comedy world, it wasn’t until later in life that Jeremy explored comedy as a career. While his journey began in 2002 when he won the class clowns competition at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at the age of 16, the pressure from his family led him to explore different career paths, including being a youth worker, martial arts competitor, and working in the AFL in strength and conditioning.
“Back then I was 16 years of age, and in a double act. It was a great moment in my life, and I’m still best mates with the guy I performed with. But we just stopped, the pressure from family was to get a real job,” he explains.
“I did a lot of different things in that time between gigs,” he continues, “and in any of those jobs I was telling stories and cracking gags, and then during the lockdowns I found myself watching a lot of comedy on Netflix and slowly started to wonder if I could do it as a stand-up.”
With an interest in comedy rekindled, it took some time to figure out how to get back on the comedy circuit, but once he did, he caught the comedy bug. While 2021 wasn’t the easiest year to start due to the extended lockdowns, he hit his stride in 2022.
The significant gap between his early comedy stint and his return has proved beneficial. Life experiences from different roles, such as a youth worker, have enabled him to connect with diverse audiences.
“I don’t think I would have progressed to the level I have without that massive gap in-between though, those life experiences have really helped.
“Nothing makes you learn how to connect with a group like standing in front of 150 year 9’s talking about the challenges they might be facing, they rip you apart pretty quickly if you don’t connect and I always did that through humour.”
Since diving into comedy, Jeremy has gone from strength to strength, selling thousands of tickets across the country, selling out consecutive festival seasons, and even embarking on a European tour.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Nate Bargatze, Tom Segura, the Boosh, Lano and Woodley, Jarryd Goundrey, and Mimi Shaheen, Jeremy’s style revolves around storytelling, ensuring that his content is relatable and accessible to diverse audiences – and it’s clearly working.
In recent years, Jeremy has received glowing feedback from audiences along the way for this unique blend of humour that resonates with a wide range of people, boasting an impressive 4.8 out of 5 stars. For the last Melbourne Comedy Festival, he decided to gather feedback directly from audiences. The responses were overwhelming, with many appreciating his fresh delivery and crowd interactions.
“A few people said I wasn’t dirty enough,” he laughed, “but I’m not really a dirty comedian. I don’t shy away from it, it’s just not what comes up onstage for me.
“Some of my favourite comments were ‘the most fun you can have without needing a safe word’. I was lucky to get a bunch of comments about being fresh with how I deliver things to the audience, and that my crowd interactions were done in a way that had everybody laughing along with the people and not at the people I was talking to
“This one also stood out to me: ‘As a person of colour I found the content relatable and hilariously funny. It’s very rare that you go to a comedy show with comedians who aren’t taking the piss out of minorities in a derogatory way! Actually had me laughing the whole time’.”
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Now Jeremy is gearing up for his show ‘No Doubt’ to Geelong for the inaugural Geelong Comedy Festival, an event set to deliver three days of non-stop chuckles as over 50 uproarious shows promise to set the city aglow.
Performing two shows, on Friday 27th October and Saturday 28th October at Valhalla Taproom,
Jeremy Dooley will be joined by fellow comic Garry Johal for a night of unbridled laughter.
“‘No Doubt’ is going to be a cracker! It’s going to be stories and jokes, we aren’t trying to go deep and change the world with our viewpoints, there is enough of that out there, we are just trying to make people laugh,” he explains.
“We want people to not have any doubts about what they are coming to see, it’s a comedy show, not a TED talk,” he laughs.
Working alongside comedian Garry Johal, Jeremy has found a comedy partner who delivers dark humour with a light and hilarious touch.
“I’m really lucky to be working with Garry. He is super experienced and plays in a lot of the biggest rooms, and should be more well-known than he is. He is much more deadpan with his delivery, and being from Singapore he brings a totally unique perspective to the world. His takes on Australia always make me laugh.”
Local talent Darby Teesdale, who will be hosting the shows, brings energy and musical goodness to the stage.
“Darby is a jet! The first time I saw him perform was at Bells Beach Brewery and he blew me away. Really laugh out loud funny, and quick-witted,” he says.
“As much as I have spent a lot of time in Geelong (a lot of family lives here and on the surf coast), I am not from here, so wanted to get a local on to make sure local artists are getting a crack at this too.”
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In Jeremy’s own words, “No Doubt it’ll be funny!” The show offers a diverse range of humour that can appeal to everyone. Garry brings dark stories, Darby adds heaps of energy and musicality, and Jeremy himself brings chaos and storytelling.
“But most importantly it’s the first-ever Geelong Comedy Festival, and the more people who get out and support it by buying tickets, the more likely it is that it’ll continue. So get around and see as much as you can, just make sure that our show is one of them!”
The Geelong Comedy Festival promises a couple of days filled with laughter, and “No Doubt” with Jeremy Dooley is set to be a highlight of the event. Don’t miss the chance to see this rising star of Australian comedy in action.
You can get tickets to ‘No Doubt’ here. Follow Jeremy on Instagram here.
